The first vaccination takes place in the Zug vaccination centre

The official launch of the vaccination centre should have taken place shortly after 9 a.m., but some initial problems caused a short delay before the vaccinations could be administered.

Vaccination against the Coronavirus pandemic started on Monday morning in the Baar industrial park on the Lorze. If you called the telephone hotline 041 531 48 00 at 9 a.m., however, you were more likely to hear a busy tone than a humans. On the spot, we were told that a large number of people from Zug were trying to register by telephone. A phenomenon that younger readers have possibly experienced when trying to obtain tickets for popular concerts.

Jonas Zollinger, the director of Andreas Klinik Cham, confirmed what had happened. Due to the telephone onslaught in the first few hours, it was impossible to satisfy everyone. All the employees of the appointment hotline handled as many callers as possible with great commitment, and, if the demand remains so high, the staff of the appointment hotline will be accordingly expanded. Due to a technical adjustment of the software supplier, online appointment bookings on the cantonal vaccination website www.corona-impfung-zug.ch   were thereby only possible from 9.20 a.m., instead of from 9 a.m. The website with all the information about the vaccination was available throughout, however, and the appointment hotline was also been able to book appointments.

Jonas Zollinger acknowledged this temporary annoyance. But he preferred to state that he is otherwise very satisfied with the start, rather than dwell on the fact that the website had crashed. But:  "We are learning every day."

A Neuheimer man was the first to be vaccinated in the centre
These obstacles were successfully overcome by Mario Polli (84) from Neuheim. The pensioner came for the vaccination with his wife. After an initial check of the personal details at the entrance, the pensioner couple worked through the fixed points laid down in the questionnaire. The entries are largely carried out electronically, although, as Jonas Zollinger explained, these necessary processes for vaccination can still be registered by hand. It’s necessary to work carefully, however, because it should be avoided that the wrong vaccine is injected where several vaccines are available. According to the Zug vaccination protocol, every action must be carried out with absolute certainty.

Photo 1:Mario Polli filling out the questionnaire
Photo 2: Mario Polli was the first person to receive the vaccination
Photo: Maria Schmid (Baar, 11 January 2021)

When asked whether he had carried out the registration for the vaccination appointment himself, Mario Polli replied: "My son helped us." The seniors were definitely willing to be vaccinated, as they had already applied to their GP for the two jabs against the corona virus. The two did not seem to be very perturbed by the two jabs: shortly afterwards, they sat down on the chairs in the relaxation room and chatted to the staff who were present. Things were still relatively quiet, but the next U75 couple was already waiting for the first serving of vaccine to be delivered. It should remain quiet in the vaccination centre of the canton of Zug: there should be no rush, because an appointment is only given every 10 minutes at the moment.

Jonas Zollinger, the director of the Andreas Klinik, then points to the other unused vaccination lanes: "The canton of Zug has 6,000 doses of vaccination of the currently approved vaccine available up to the end of January 2021, and mobile teams have been on the move in the retirement and nursing homes from 23 December 2020. Some seniors from this segment are already approaching the second vaccination date."

Zollinger also points out that "all the appointment slots for the next ten days have already been booked". At the moment, the availability of the vaccines themselves determines the pace. According to various media reports, however, further vaccine approvals are expected soon. The canton of Zug will again receive a quota from these corresponding to its population. It’s also worth noting that younger people from Zug can already register for the corona virus vaccination now – or in the next few days and weeks. They will then receive a idea of when they will be able to receive the jab in Baar. This also leaves plenty of time to carefully think about the answers in the registration procedure. It’s also advisable to have the necessary ID cards at hand. And, as with visits to the doctor, nothing can happen without the health insurance card.

The event is unique
Andreas Klinik Director Jonas Zollinger is also confident that the vaccination centre, which has been set up in cooperation with the Zug Cantonal Hospital within just under two months, will be able to ramp up its operations as planned. The operation has got off to a good start, which makes him very happy. Because everything that is happening now in Baar is new – and there was no blueprint.

Meanwhile, Zug public health is considering how they can convince the undecided to take the two jabs: "The Canton of Zug relies on objective and transparent information for the population. Anyone who weighs the facts and examines the available information must conclude that the vaccination actually protects against the corona virus."

Jonas Zollinger plays a different trump card: "Two weeks after the first vaccination, you are already protected against the virus to a certain degree." It is still uncertain how long the protection will last after the second jab, however!